Two big food hits on Route 17 in Paramus

The newly renovated interior of the Suburban Diner on Route 17 north in Paramus, where I enjoyed a Greek-diner staple, a filling bowl of thick pea soup without carb-filled croutons, below.

Route 17 through Paramus isn't for faint-hearted drivers -- with shoppers cutting off other cars to turn into store driveways or leaving parking lots and barging into fast-moving traffic.

This is typical of small North Jersey communities, which line their state highways with malls and other businesses to generate property taxes.

There are only a few things that can get me to use Route 17, and two of them are the Suburban Diner and Trader Joe's, both in Paramus.

The Paramus Trader Joe's is bigger than the store in Westwood.

At the Suburban Diner on Thursday, my friend Gene bought me lunch -- a bowl of thick pea soup and hot tea.

Then, we drove about a mile north to Trader Joe's, which shares a building with Office Depot.

I know to start braking when I see the Stew Leonard wine store, where you can enjoy free wine-and-cheese samples.

I've purchased a few bottles of wine at Stew Leonard, but in recent years, most of my wine is delivered to my door as part of introductory wine club offers.

My hand-held shopping basket at Trader Joe's.

At Trader Joe's, I bought two 2-pound bags of sweet potatoes at 85 cents a pound; organic celery hearts, $2.29; a bottle of Trader Joe's hot Chipotle Salsa, $1.99; and two packages of Trader Joe's antibiotic- and hormone-free bacon, $4.49 each.

Also, Trader Joe's uncured beef hot dogs (antibiotic- and hormone-free), and uncured  jumbo beef hot dogs, $4.49 and $4.99, respectively.

I buy most of my cheese at lower prices from Costco Wholesale, but can't resist Trader Joe's Sliced Jalapeno Yogurt Cheese, $4.79.

Trader Joe's also is my source for the best 100% whole-wheat pasta I've found, available as organic spaghetti, penne and fusilli for only $1.39 a pound.



Suburban Diner, 172 Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-261-2605. Open 7 days, 24 hours on weekends.

Trader Joe's, 404 Route 17 north, Paramus; 201-265-9642. Open 7 days.

An anniversary sale I couldn't miss

Image via Wikipedia

I was out of the inexpensive sake I use for cooking, so the anniversary sale at Mitsuwa Marketplace in Edgewater came just in time. Prices are good through Feb. 28. This sale is not to be confused with the Decemeber sale, when just about everything in the Japanese supermarket is 20% off.

You will find some items at 25% off, such as the California sake I use to steam clams and frozen wild salmon or to add to an Asian-inspired noodle sauce. Dry Yaegaki sake is $5.99 for a 1.5 liter bottle -- $2 off. I bought two yesterday. I also bought Hakushika-brand Japanese sake for drinking, $7.99 for a 720 milliliter bottle -- also $2 off.

Unfortunately, sale items are scattered throughout the store and many were gone by noon, when I got there. Three non-sale items: instant ramen with the lowest salt content I could find -- Shirakiku Miso Ramen, five packages for $4.99; three packages of miso soup mix with tofu ($1.99), grilled eel ($5.25) and whole wheat soba noddles ($3.49).

Mitsuwa has one of the best food courts around, and tables have a terrific view of Manhattan and Riverside Church. You can enjoy ramen, Berkshire pork cutlets, sushi and even spaghetti and meatballs. At St. Honore Bakery, where I bought a cup of black coffee, you can get a pan-fried noodle hero sandwich for $1.80, said to be a popular item.

I don't think you can find higher prices than you'll see on kobe beef, raw blue-fin tuna belly, produce and some other items at Mitsuwa. I saw one young man selecting two, small Washington State-raised kobe steaks -- each about a third of a pound -- for about $26 a pound.

On the way home, I always stop at the Trader Joe's just down the road for uncured, preservative-free hot dogs and bacon ($3.99), and drug- and preservative-free Applegate Farms cold cuts, $3.59 for ham and $3.69 for herbed turkey breast. (Fairway Market in Paramus offers Applegate Frams products by the pound, as well as pre-sliced.) I also picked up organic, free-range chicken drumsticks for $1.99 a pound.

Trader Giotto's hand-made, frozen, mostly organic vegetarian pizza from Italy ($4.29) sounded promising, having been cooked in a wood-burning oven. I heated in up for dinner (13 minutes in a 400-degree oven), and it was filling but bland. When I served it to my wife, her reaction made me feel like a waiter in a lousy pizzeria.

Mitsuwa Marketplace, 595 River Road, Edgewater;
201-941-9113. American Express cards not accepted.
http://www.mitsuwa.com

Trader Joe's, 715 River Road, Edgewater;
201-945-5932. http://traderjoes.com